Eritrea Issues - 2024

Disputes - international

Eritrea-Ethiopia: both agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement

Eritrea-Sudan: Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups

Eritrea-Djibouti: in 2008, Eritrean troops moved across the border on Ras Doumera peninsula and occupied Doumera Island with undefined sovereignty in the Red Sea

Trafficking in persons

tier rating:

Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore Eritrea remained on Tier 3; the government continued to have a policy or pattern of human trafficking; the government exploited its citizens in forced labor in its compulsory national service and citizen militia by forcing them to serve indefinitely or for arbitrary periods; officials directed policies that perpetuated mobilization of children for forced labor in public works projects, usually within the agricultural sector, during the student summer work program known as Maetot; the government did not demonstrate any efforts to address human trafficking (2023)

human traffickers exploit domestic victims in Eritrea and abroad, and may exploit foreign victims in Eritrea; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also the full range of government jobs, as well as teaching; the 18-month limit on compulsory national service was suspended since the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict, blocking the demobilization of most individuals who are forced to serve indefinitely under threats of detention, torture, or familial reprisal; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers to evade Eritrea’s strict exit controls and are vulnerable to trafficking; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Ethiopia, Libya, and Sudan; Eritrean military and security officials reportedly subject young women and girls to domestic servitude and sex trafficking, as well as committing human rights abuses and gender-based violence against women and girls in Tigray; Chinese nationals employed at worksites affiliated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative are vulnerable to forced labor, including in construction and mining (2023)